FIVE THINGS TO KNOW: Saints vs. Black Hawks 3/10

By Jordan Kuhns, 03/10/18, 12:30PM CST

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Saints look to end three-game skid

The Dubuque Fighting Saints' loss to the Lincoln Stars was the team's third consecutive loss, which matched a season high. The Saints have given up 19 goals in that span, and will look to shore up the defensive side of the puck. Tonight, the Saints take on a team that is below the middle of the pack in offense this season in the Waterloo Black Hawks.

An unexpected reinforcement from the college ranks has steadied Waterloo's already imposing defense. Ben Finkelstein joined Waterloo 11 games ago, and the Florida Panthers prospect has points in 9 of 11 games he has played, and that includes an unreal 6-point effort against Cedar Rapids early in his return to the USHL. He very quickly committed to Boston College, one of the top college programs in the nation.

Saints forward Matias Maccelli is scoring at a top rate since getting comfortable in the USHL. Pro-rating his point production at an .882 point-per-game percentage puts him at 53 points on a season at just 17 years of age. The fast Finn ended a two-game point drought with a nifty assist on Matt Stoia's first goal in his USHL career.

Whichever goaltender the Fighting Saints see tonight in Waterloo will prove to be a challenge. Flyers prospect Matej Tomek has won both decisions against the Saints with a 1.92 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. Minnesota commit Jared Moe played against Dubuque twice to begin the season, and won one of the two games, allowing just one goal with a .981 save percentage.

2018 NHL Draft prospect Jack Drury set a new Tier I record with a 23-game point streak, which just ended. In that crazy run of 23 games, Drury picked up 14 goals and 18 assists. Since that drought, Drury is back at it again with a five-game point streak, with two goals and four assists inclusive. Those impressive runs have given him high praise from scouts—ranked 60th at the midterm by NHL Central Scouting.